MVRDV’s WERK12 has been selected as a finalist for the 2021 DAM Preis for Architecture in Germany by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum. The project was selected as one of 4 finalists from 100 nominated German buildings.

Completed in 2019 with co-architects N-V-O Nuyken von Oefele Architekten, WERK12 forms the nucleus of the Werksviertel-Mitte district close to Munich’s East Station. The mixed-use building containing restaurants and bars, offices, and a three-storey gym with a pool, stands out thanks to its bold and expressive art façade featuring five-metre-tall verbal expressions found in German comics.

WERK12 combines a simple form, honest materials, and transparent façades. Users can move around the building in multiple ways: the design’s external circulation core on the building’s north-eastern side is supplemented by 3.25-metre-wide terraces that surround each floor of the building. These are connected by external staircases curling around the building to connect these generous open spaces (a playful reference to one of MVRDV’s most famous early projects, the Dutch Pavilion at the Expo2000 in Hanover).

The winner of the 2021 DAM Preis will be announced at an event in January, when an exhibition of the nominated projects will open at the Deutsche Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt. The projects nominated for the prize will also be featured in the German Architecture Yearbook, released at the same time.

Read more about WERK12 here. More information about the 2021 DAM Preis can be found here.